Customer Reviews

Year

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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I've been a fan of Maddy through her many incarnations, and this is unquestionably her best. It's a concept ablum without pretense: gentle, varied, intense and intelligent. Her own writing has never been better. She obviously took great care in selecting the material so that it flows and surprises concurrently. Hell, it's a great album, one of the best in the last decade. Yup, that good.

I had the pleasure of seeing Maddy in concert in San Francisco supporting this album. I have been a long-time Steeleye fan and this was a real treat for me. Maddy was spectacular, not merely for her excellent vocals, but for her raport with the audience. She gave us breaks so she could come off the stage and talk to us. How many artists would do that? Delightful in conversation. I embarassed her by telling her she was my favorite vocalist. I have since washed my hand which she shook, but I had to debate it. The album itself is a worthy collection of new and old material. Many of the songs are new renditions of old Steeleye songs, which are good in their own right, but I would really have preferred more new material. The suite 'Year' is mostly her own original material, and her voice and song writing shine forth from the very beginning. The gentle vibrato, the slight twang, and the awesome control are what get me. The way she moves up to high notes still gives me a thrill after listening to her for 25 years. The Fabled Hare, the other long suite, is a classic, mixing mythology, folklore, and even science together. Even sung in several dialects. This album remains a jewel in my collection, partially for the signature I got, but also for the excellence of the music.

This entire album is fabulous. But the best cut is the ninth: The Fabled Hare. This beautiful cycle is so haunting and powerful that I get a lump in my throat just thinking about it. The song recounts the story of a persecuted witch who transforms into a hare to escape her pursuers, but it could just as easily be taken to describe the harsh, tragic life of a real wild hare today. I only hope her triumphant ending to this breathtaking cycle comes true: "I shall run and run forever where the wild fields are mine...."

BUY this album and be amazed and filled with wonder!

I became interested in finding this album after I heard one track, "Red & Green," by chance on the internet in 1999. It blew me away, the most powerful Christmas song I had ever heard. Finally I got around to ordering the album now. Worth it alone for "Red & Green." Certainly, Maddy Prior is one of the most commanding singers of our time, and the rest of the album is fulfilling as well.